MARGINAL COSTING
Introduction
This paper explores the use of cost accounting information for decision-making purposes.
DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS
Marginal cost: This is the cost of a unit of a product or service, which would be avoided if that unit or service was not produced or provided
Break-even point: This is the volume of sales where there is neither profit nor loss.
1 9 6 COST ACCOUNTING
S T U D Y T E X T
Margin of safety: This is the excess of sales over the break-even volume in sales. It states the extent to which sales can drop before losses begin to be incurred in a firm
Contribution: This is the difference between sales value and the marginal cost of sales.
To understand this topic, you need to understand the
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Before a firm can make a profit in any period, it must first of all cover its fixed costs.
MARGINAL AND ABSORPTION COSTING
1 9 8 COST ACCS T U D Y T E X T
Suppose that a firm makes and sells a single product that has a marginal cost of Shs.25 per unit and that sells for Shs.40 per unit. For every additional unit of the product that is made and sold, the firm will incur an extra cost of Shs.25 and receive income of Shs.40. The net gain will be
Shs.15 per additional unit. This net gain per unit is called contribution
Contribution per Unit = Sales – variable costs
= Shs.40 – Shs.25
= Shs.15
The Principles of Marginal Costing
The principles of marginal costing are as follows:
Period fixed costs are the same, for any volume of sales and production (provided that the level of activity is within the ‘relevant range’). Therefore, by selling an extra item of product or service the following will happen:
Ø Revenue will increase by the sales value of the item sold,
Ø Costs will increase by the variable cost per unit,
Ø Profit will increase by the amount of contribution earned from the extra item.
Similarly, if the volume of sales falls by one item, the profit will fall by the amount of contribution earned from the item.
Profit measurement should, therefore, be based on an analysis of total contribution. Since fixed costs relate to a period of time, and do not change with increases or decreases in sales volume, it is misleading to charge
In this paper I am going to explain some of the key terms that companies need to keep in mind when operating their business. First, we will start with marginal revenue, which is defined simply as the extra revenue that is made for each additional unit of a product that is sold. This is directly related to marginal cost, which is what it costs the company to make that additional unit of product.
Explain what action a profit maximizing firm takes if marginal revenue is greater than marginal cost:
(Again, so far, remember that pricing in this case is set at the marginal cost level.)
20. What is the term for the extra revenue derived from the sale of one more unit?
1. For financial accounting purposes, what is the total amount of product costs incurred to make 10,000 units?
Income and cost changes because of different levels of activity they carry out in the business. If the sales of the business increase so will the cost. This is because; more production will take place for more sales. Income and cost can be changed by fashion as well. The business will need to be up to date with the fashion. This change will increase the cost as well. But if the business can be up to date, it will bring a higher income as their products going to be popular.
The $320,000, on the other hand, is a fixed cost associated with the proposed addition.
In vertical analysis, it is easier to see elements as a percentage of Revenue. Between 2011-12, the portion that cost of sales takes in revenue has increased however, there is a bigger deterioration in distribution cost. In 2011, 9.21% of revenue remains as profit but in 2012 this figure decreases to 8.14%. Despite reduction in costs is one of the strategies of Ted Baker(part 1.4), analysis illustrates that costs increase each year.
One can calculate the change in sales volume necessary for the price change to be profitable by using the following Basic Breakeven
Bhimani, A., Horngren, C., Datar, S., Rajan, M. et al. (2012) Management and Cost Accounting. 5th ed. Edinburgh: Prentice Hall, p.369 - 378.
Breakeven point (BEP) is where the total contribution cost equals to fixed cost. To calculate this, you do fixed cost divided by the contribution per unit. To calculate the contribution per unit you do the selling price minus the variable costs.
3- As we can see the company would loss 0.52 cent per 1 kg if it decides to sell at 6.85 price and allocates the fixed expenses at 1.20 per 1 kg.
As an example, if fixed costs are $100, price per unit is $10, and variable costs per unit are $6, then the break-even quantity is 25 ($100 ÷ [$10 − $6] = $100 ÷$4). When 25 units are produced and sold, each of these units will not only have covered its own marginal (variable) costs, but will have also have contributed enough in total to have covered all associated fixed costs. Beyond these 25 units, all fixed costs have been paid, and each unit contributes to profits by the excess of price over variable costs, or the contribution margin. If demand is estimated to be at least 25 units, then the company will not experience a loss. Profits will grow with each unit demanded above this 25-unit break-even level.
This equation is solved for the sales volume in units. c. In the graphical approach, sales revenue and total expenses are graphed. The break-even point occurs at the intersection of the total revenue and total expense lines. 8-2 The term unit contribution margin refers to the contribution that